Cyclists commemorate Trail of Tears

There were hundreds of hills, a few minor spills, but mostly thrills for the 2013 Remember the Removal bike riders who completed their 950-mile bicycle ride in Tahlequah, Okla. last week to honor their Cherokee ancestors.

The Cherokee Nation had 15 riders and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians had seven riders participate in the bike ride to retrace their ancestors’ footsteps along the northern route of the Trail of Tears.

The group ranged in age from 15 to 54 and started in New Echota, Ga., on June 3. They traveled across Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas before reaching the Courthouse Square in Tahlequah.

Marvel Welch, 54, of Cherokee, said she was amazed by the journey. “The energy that these kids have is just so unbelievable, and they helped me get to where I’m at right now,” Welch said, of her victory completing the ride.

The riders visited various gravesites and historic landmarks along the trail, including Blythe Ferry in Tennessee, which was the last piece of Cherokee homeland the ancestors stood on before beginning the trek to Indian Territory.

Reading Room

So, Scout (Jean Louise) comes back home to Maycomb — where “everyone is either kin or almost kin”— at age 26 and after being “away” and living in New York City for several years. Sixteen years have gone by since we last heard from her in the pages of To Kill a Mockingbird, and the Maycomb she comes home to isn’t the same Maycomb we know from the 1960 novel.

This Must Be the Place

For the better part of the last decade, my life during the summer was music festivals. From Maine to California, Michigan to Arkansas, I was there, in an endless crowd, cheering on the greatest musicians of our time. In those innumerable moments, I felt more alive, at home, and at peace, than anywhere else in the world.